Thus with my hands I shall rip deities into shreds - 93%

I have seen this band play a few times, on each occasion it was the highlight of the night. Even the first time when I wasn't very familiar with their music, they gave off the most energy and they sounded fucking vicious. They are one of the NZ's best black thrash acts.

The music itself is relentless, just when you think you have a song nutted out, they blast out a different remarkable riff pattern. Also, If you think it's just going to sound fast and amature you are wrong, there is a complex nature to all the songs. "Thus Awoken" and the band's name "Exordium Mors" are particularly excellent tracks. The song "Exordium Mors (Pagan Ritual and Sacrifice to Roman Gods)" is about the twisted events that took place in Ancient Rome, the lyrics in this song are pretty well done too, some careful thought has clearly gone into them, the whole song is full of blazing riffs and is structurally sound, the climax is absolutely great - the last minute of the song is a pure awesome riff / solo / head bang combo.

"Thus Awoken" is a ripping, full pace, thrashing assault, constantly changing patterns and every minute of the song just get's more impressive and awesome. There is no fucking around either, it's all at a blinding tempo. "Primordial Inversion Evolution" is another great track, this time it's about the worthlessness of mankind, quite unintentionally funny to read the lyrics too "Go back to the womb you ignorant slime."

There are no real big complaints, the minor ones are the vocals which are sometimes crazily rushed making them almost impossible to follow and the last track is not quite as blindingly awesome as the first three, but is still definitely a good song. The production isn't exactly of the highest quality but it definitely suits this particular style of metal. If you like combinations of the most extreme metal genres all wrapped into one, it might sound like Exordium Mors, this is a defiling, wicked and well executed thrash assault which is genuinely awesome. This band is definitely something to keep your eye on in the future.

Really impressive! - 85%

This band from NZ has a logo that resembles Impiety, that’s the first thing I noticed when I got the cd. The 2nd thing that got me realy impressed is the HUGE fold-out booklet that can serve as a poster with the artwork. As for the music, it’s also impressive and well done, even though it’s not the stuff I usually listen to.

The logo’s similarity is probably not a coincidence, since musically EM reminds of Impiery with the fast and furious drumming, twisted riffs and overall bestial attitude, but despite the fact that is sounds chaotic in the beginning – EM’s music is actually complex and not primitive at all and arranged in a rather intelligent way. The musicians of Exordium Mors are really skilled and like to challenge themselves, so cool solos can be found here much and the structures of the song aren’t predictable.

Absu came to mind as well while I was listening to this CD and reading the lyrics, the vocals are similar as well, so don’t expect any amateur sounding stuff here. The only thing that sounded annoying to me is the growls that appear in some parts, which don’t really fit in my opinion. If you’re into this kind of complex Black/Thrash –the 4 tracks from this CD will do!

Exordium Mors - Serva Ad Mors - 75%

Exordium Mors play music best labelled high-quality technical black metal with a good dose of heavy thrash. The music is furious, aggressive, spiritually visceral and chaotic yet at the same time carefully restrained and intelligently arranged. The music can switch from chaotic violent-fuelled blackened thrash to epic, transcending melodic passages in a heartbeat.

A little on the physical form of the album - I'm a sucker for black and white art and this one has a nice cover, which unfolds into an even larger version of itself. Pretty cool. There's an obligatory band picture of the group wearing black band t-shirts and spiked armbands and holding goat heads and stuff.. whatever. I can do without the generic black thrash imagery, but it doesn't bother me too much.

Guitarists Santi and Black Mortum make a wonderful duo and play back and forth against each other at blistering speeds in the eternal Slayer/Priest tradition. These two guys really drive this album forward with their insane riffs, shredtastic solos and a collective guitar sound that I can best visually describe as a exploding black lava.

'Thus Awoken' begins the album, appropriately with a tale of a man unchaining himself and raising up against the gods and the established order. No long ambiental intro here folks, just the sweet sound of guitar feedback and voila, you're plunged right into the mayhem.

Primordial Inversion Evolution has some of the most seething and schitzophrenic riffs I have ever heard! The song sounds like a simultaneous exploration into the animalistic and spiritual nature of man and at the same time a condemnation of him, for whatever reason. The lyrics emphasize this sense of dichotomy by speaking of a group of demonic entities violently destroying mankind in a apocalytic bloody haze... perhaps this entity is a certain part of man himself. An excellent song.

The band's theme song 'Exordium Mors (Pagan Ritual and Sacrifice to Roman Gods) ' is next - the lyrics speak of a sick and violent Roman rape ritual performed by the infamus Caligula and an inner circle, reveling in the blasphemy against their ancient pagan ways. It's worthwhile to note that there is some pretty awesome bass playing on this song, moreso than on the rest of the album.

Closing off this work of art is 'Stench of Burning Vermin'. You get the idea that someone had a bad personal experience with women when writing these lyrics... Anyway, now one can see why I call this technical black metal. Chaotic, complex structures, constantly changing chord patterns, a bucketload of riffs, solos. Like an inferno. A black metal inferno, climaxing into melodic passage that makes you visualize looking down over charred remains with a feeling of righteousness, before throwing you right back into the ash and flames.

Vocalist Scourge has a good pair of lungs and a solid sense of rhythm which really meshes well with the music at many times. The vocals are somewhat standard black metal vocals that suffer from being a little too present. They can be painfully grating and annoying at times due to their lack of depth or color, but I assign that to the recording quality more than anything.

The rhythm section does its job and both drummer Adam and bassist Pete are technically skilled musicians but at the same time as a team leave a little to be desired. This is partially due to the production, which makes the drums and bass sound very flat but also to the drumming itself which at times lack creative variation and at other times lack the propulsive thrust required by the rest of the music. There is that pretty sweet little bass lead in the middle of 'Exordium Mors' though :)

The lyrics themselves are a strange breed - there are a lot of references to Classical civilizations and its symbolism and relevance to the human condition. There is a lot of imagery of violence, demons, victory, power.... mostly standard war-oriented black metal sentiments. However they are HUGE. Each song has a ridiculous amount of text, which probably is part of the reason why the vocals rarely take a rest on this album. To some this may be a positive of the album, but reading through the lyrics I can't help but feel that it would be a lot more effective if they were more concise and focused.

Overall, Serva Ad Mors a very good album that is somewhat let down by the poor recording quality (especially on the vocals and drums). Exordium Mors is a gifted band with a lot of potential and I look forward to what they can bring to extreme metal in the future with a better production.